Flipped

There's something sweetly endearing about a movie like Flipped, which is unabashedly nostalgic. It's a coming-of-age movie stripped of its edges and dark corners -- hard to do considering that we're talking about tweens and teens here. How lovely to observe the progression of young love without the complications of sexting and Facebook. Then again, it's set in the past -- a simpler time, or so it seems, that Reiner looks on fondly. We think: Perhaps life has become entirely too jaded in this uber-wired world.

That sensibility ups the movie's appeal -- as do the lead actors, who are fantastic, and Reiner's usual warmth and empathy. But Anthony Edwards, as Bryce's dad, seems woefully modern despite his period-appropriate wear, and ultimately Flipped lacks momentum. The voiceover narration lends the film an afterschool-special quality it could've done without, and interesting turns in the plot -- like Juli's first meeting with her disabled uncle -- are approached like talking points on what seems to be a "poignant, character-building moments" memo. It's an age-old tale told in a traditional, chronological arc, but a little inventiveness might have better captured the unexpectedness and surprise of adolescence.